Competition Commission Chief Hints At Changes In Legislation

Indicating amendments in the legislation governing competition in the country, chairman of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) Ashok Kumar Gupta on Thursday said that inclusion of a provision related to fixing criteria for regulating mergers and acquisitions is key among them.

Addressing an event organised by industry body ASSOCHAM, Mr Gupta said that considering the number of challenges posed by a digital economy in terms of a regulation, it is often being debated whether digital companies require their own set of legislations.

"While the legal framework set out in the Competition Act is broad enough to address competition issues arising out of new-age markets, certain legislative changes, such as enabling provisions in the statute for prescribing additional criteria for merger notification thresholds in terms of deal value, are currently on the anvil," he said.

The CCI chief further observed that data hegemony by a few digital entities could lead to an “attention economy” where the major players try to capture users' attention and build profiles of their choices and then sell those profiles to advertisers.

In such a scenario, Mr Gupta said that CCI tries to ensure that such digital platforms remain neutral and provide a level playing field so that smaller players also manage to attract customers through them.